Catholic churches plan collection for anti-gay marriage effort

The Associated Press •September 11, 2009 12:29 pm

LEWISTON, Maine — Maine’s Roman Catholic churches plan a second collection at Masses this weekend to help the referendum campaign to overturn the law recognizing gay marriages. Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to repeal that law.

The Portland Diocese is asking parishioners who want to contribute by checks to make them out to Stand for Marriage Maine. State law requires Stand for Marriage to report individual donations of more than $50 more because it’s a political action committee; the church must report donations of more than $100.

In August, a California-based gay rights group filed a complaint saying some groups are contributing to Stand for Marriage campaign without reporting the names of their donors.

The Sun Journal quotes church officials as saying the Diocese of Portland intends to meet all state reporting requirements. The next quarterly report is due in Oct. 13.